


latching on to you

by straightkids (theyoungestoftwo)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: College AU ?, Halloween AU, Haunted House, I’m tired yo, M/M, Please be safe, also clowns are a big warning, anxiety attack, chan is scared, i didn’t proofread, i guess, i think that's everything that's important?, it’s 3am, thank you, trigger warning, we die like illiterates in this household, woojin is protective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-18 05:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18243014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theyoungestoftwo/pseuds/straightkids
Summary: Chan was terrified about that, he’d admit. He also had somehow roped his kinda-boyfriend into coming with them and while he was excited to spend more time with them, he was not excited about where the group chose to go. Group dates were a regular thing now and they usually happened at movie theatres or parks… never a haunted house. He supposed it was because those dates had not happened in October but he didn’t care. He was not happy. But he was also not scared. Because he was a man. Not scared.





	latching on to you

**Author's Note:**

> look i know its fucking march but halloween is the superior holiday and you cannot change my mind. 
> 
> also hbd baby i wub you so much 
> 
> this is also based off that one time i went to a haunted house and had a panic attack and my sister punching the clown who assaulted me (it's a long story) but with boyfriends obviously

Chan wasn’t scared. No really, he wasn’t. The sweat trickling in down his back was because he was warm in his jacket. Honest. It wasn’t that the sounds of chainsaws he knew didn’t have blades terrified him. Or that the very idea of him seeing a clown made him want to vomit. Not at all. He was brave. He was a man. He could do this. He waited in line with Felix and Jisung and their respective boyfriends. (Were all his friends gay? It seemed like it. Not that he had a problem with it. Chan also thought boys were hot.) 

Hyunjin and Felix seemed too excited. Felix was excited about something scary. That was a rare sight to see. Hyunjin was wrapped in Felix’s arms as he chattered enthusiastically about nonsense and Felix hummed when he deemed it appropriate. Chan had no idea how Jisung roped Changbin into coming here but Changbin looked as white as a ghost and Jisung looked regretful. They stood in the parking lot of the listening to the sounds of screams and haunting laughter, waiting for Woojin to come.

Chan was terrified about that, he’d admit. He also had somehow roped his kinda-boyfriend into coming with them and while he was excited to spend more time with them, he was not excited about where the group chose to go. Group dates were a regular thing now and they usually happened at movie theatres or parks… never a haunted house. He supposed it was because those dates had not happened in October but he didn’t care. He was not happy. But he was also not scared. Because he was a man. Not scared. 

Woojin was running late due to a family issue so Chan hitched a ride with Jisung and Changbin. He didn’t like being in the group date setting without his own date so once he saw the familiar black car pull into a parking spot, he sprinted towards it. (It wasn’t that he was worried Woojin had more family issues. Of course not.) He waited impatiently by the trunk and basically jumped on Woojin when the other was in arms reach. Chan could feel the tension in his shoulders relax and a shudder ran down his spine when Woojin’s nose ran down the side of his neck. 

“Missed you,” Woojin mumbled, lips barely brushing on the sensitive skin of Chan’s neck and the smaller boy had no qualms in repeating the same sentiment back to Woojin because he did miss Woojin. It was hard not to miss him. The two stood in each other’s arms for a moment and Chan felt himself relax. He pulled back from the hug, almost immediately grabbing Woojin’s hand and holding it. He leaned up and placed one chaste kiss on Woojin’s mouth, smiling shyly after. He wordlessly began dragging Woojin to their group of friends, too embarrassed and flustered to speak. Woojin just laughed at him. 

And then they bought their tickets. And Chan wasn’t scared, honest. He didn’t jump when he someone stepped too close and he didn’t feel the need to sprint away and hide in Woojin’s car. Obviously not. He was especially not scared when they were next in line. He wasn’t scared. He was terrified. Woojin noticed, he always noticed the little things about Chan, so he squeezed his fingers and lead Chan inside the building. 

Three steps in made Chan nauseous. There was smoke in the air and blood on the floor. It was fake blood, obviously, but the effect was very real. And Chan was very scared. It made him feel a little better that Changbin was audibly also very scared as well, but he still felt terrified. The majority of the beginning wasn’t bad. Chan still wanted to punch someone and bolt but this was a date. He couldn’t leave Woojin like that. That’s the only thing that kept him in the building. Until the clown room that is. 

Not to be dramatic, but clowns were spawned by the devil and were on earth to suck out the souls of the innocent. Everyone but Chan seemed to ignore that. Clowns sucked ass and Chan wanted to cry. The company decided that they should pair the clowns with the chainsaws Chan was hearing earlier. His grip on Woojin’s hand tightened drastically and Woojin tried his best to calm him down. It was working. Until his hand wasn’t in Woojin’s anymore and suddenly he was in a corner, chainless saw revving by his legs and a smug looking clown in his face, fake blood getting all over his shirt. 

To be fair, it wasn’t Woojin’s fault that they got separated. It was probably the clown’s but Chan didn’t care. Chan cried and screamed and yelled at his group to help him. He didn’t care about being manly anymore. He didn’t care. He just wanted to leave. The smoke in the air was suddenly suffocating and Chan’s knees buckled. It was hard to breathe when he couldn’t see any of his friends and all he could hear was the sounds of his own screams and chainsaws. He was surrounded by fear and panic and he thought he was dying. He didn’t even recognize the air getting quieter when he was brought out of the room. 

“Chan, you need to listen to me, okay? It’s okay, I promise it’s okay,” Changbin tried to reassure him but even his voice was trembling and it did nothing to sooth Chan. Chan wanted Woojin and only Woojin. Chan just cried harder. 

“Baby,” was whispered in his ear and Chan tried his best to calm down but he couldn’t. Even in a separate room, he could hear the screams and the chainsaws. It was hard. Woojin picked him up like he weighed nothing and stood still, one arm under his butt holding him up and his other arm wrapping around his middle. Woojin held him tight. His smell was comforting. His voice was soft. Chan clung to him like he was a lifeline. He needed this - needed Woojin. The tears started to calm but Chan’s fears didn’t. He vaguely recognized Jisung and Hyunjin communicating to some other person, probably an actor or a security guard. Maybe even Felix. He heard Woojin talk to Changbin and then felt Woojin hurry his way after a security guard who was leading them to a nursing tent. Chan didn’t care. Chan just wanted to hug Woojin and go home. 

The nurse couldn’t do much for him, but he did get free water and a pack of ice to cool him down. The nurse offered him some candy but Woojin declined it with the excuse that sugar was the last thing he needed right now. Chan agreed because it was Woojin and Woojin knew what was best for him. He let out a few deep breaths and thanked the nurse as she walked away. He waved at his friends as they showed up and dismissed their apologies as they tried to make him understand how sorry they were for bringing him to the haunted house. The four friends left, and soon it was just Woojin and Chan in a little tent. 

“You okay?” Woojin asked, and even in those two words, he made his own fear and panic known. Chan nodded, smiling softly at the taller boy who nodded and the tension that somehow found his way back into his broad shoulders released again. 

“You can go back in if you want,” Chan bargained, feeling a little guilt at ruining this date night. Woojin looked affronted before his face shifted to show his embarrassment. 

“First of all, I don’t want to. I am not leaving you alone under any circumstances. Second of all, I uh… can’t. I got kicked out,” Woojin spoke. A flush covered his cheekbones and nose bridge, his hand rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the ground. 

“You got… kicked out.” 

“That’s why the security guard was there. I uh… punched the clown in the face. I told him to back up and he didn’t and then you started crying and I just… freaked out.” 

Chan knew he shouldn’t feel as much love and adoration as he was feeling about his boyfriend punching some asshole Halloween actor in the face for him. But he did. He felt loved and cared for and wanted. He felt all of this and didn’t hold himself back when he felt the urge to climb in Woojin’s lap and kiss him until their lungs were screaming for air. He didn’t care that they were in public. It seemed like Woojin didn’t either of the hands on his waist were anything to go by. 

“I love you,” he whispered once their lips were disconnected. He was finding it hard to breathe again for a completely different reason. Woojin just smiled brightly, eyes forced into crescent moons by his cheeks. Chan smiled back. 

“I love you too, Chantaloupe,” and even if Chan felt a flood of annoyance at the nickname, he didn’t say anything. That was probably because his mouth was preoccupied with kissing the shit out of Woojin again. A win in Chan’s book.


End file.
